Dragon Keeper
by xXDarkApplesXx
Summary: "..Will fear us when the time comes, ... , we are, Akatsuki,"... "One day, You will all know, this was for your own good" Full Summary inside. I don't own Naruto. :
1. Chapter 1

Dragon Keeper

A blur of black and red passed through the streets of Konoha, black shadows followed after, more and more trailing after. The figure stopped at the top of the gates, it had bright pink hair with burning emerald green eyes piercing every moonlit form. Her leather clothed fists clenched together as she saw many faces she had once known. They were like stone, no emotion giving them away. It was dead silent, not one creature dare to disturb them, and then, the group parted; one figure shrouded in darkness stepped out into the moonlight, and then 3 more figures followed. Before her stood her former teammates, ex-sensei, and the Hokage. The figure sucked in a sharp breath before slowly letting it out.

"So, this is how it's to be…" She almost whispered, but the wind carried her words to their ears. Naruto stepped forward but was immediately surrounded by ANBU. She hissed and took a step forward; everyone was on their guard when she moved. Kunai and Katana were unsheathed and they got into a fighting position. She faltered and took a step backwards.

"Iie, it doesn't have to be like this Sakura-chan, come back, obaa-chan can make you forget what you've discovered." Naruto said desperately, now wanting to lose his sister. She looked at Naruto, then to Sasuke.

"Congratulations Sasuke," she said softly, his eyes flickered for a moment,

"Be Happy," he let out a hn and turned his head to the side.

"Kaka-sensei, you're the best sensei anyone could ever have." She gave him a small smile, and in return his eye crinkled for a moment, before his face became solemn.

"Shi-shou, Arigatōgozaimasu!" she put her hands together and bowed; she turned her back to them and took a step forward.

"Don't do it Sakura!" Tsunade yelled.

"Sakura Don't!" Kakashi exclaimed, Sasuke took a step forward as if he would catch her if she fell.

"This doesn't have to be goodbye Sakura-chan." She winced and turned her head to the side so she could see them in the corner of her eye, her eyes softened.

"Yes Naruto, it does." A large bang sounded throughout the forest, and she jumped off.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed. A loud whooshing noise filled the area, and where Sakura once stood, hovered a large black and red dragon. Sakura stood on the crown of its head.

"Know this," she took a kunai from her pack and scratched a line through her hi-ate, murmurs and gasps bubbled up from the crowd,

"Konoha isn't my home, it never was. The Sakura you knew, she's dead. As the flames of a fire die out, they turn to ash, And from those ashes, a new being is born." With that she flew off into the darkness, not leaving a trace of her ever being there.

With Sakura~~~~~

Her eyes held an unexplainable emotion; they were dead, no soul, but there was the slightest hint of sadness and pain in them. She let a lone tear drop, then shifted until she got into a comfortable position upon the dragon's head and closed her eyes; letting herself drift off into a black abyss.

3 Years Later

They flew together all over the place for many miles. Not one person dare to disturb them until one day.

"So, you think you're better than us?

Kasumi awoke her with a low growl. 3 kunai were thrown towards her, her eyes snapped open and she blocked them with her own. She looked towards the direction the kunai were thrown from and growled low. Suddenly a white clay bird came flying towards her, she jumped backwards and let herself free fall. The dragon clamped its teeth around the bird and crunched it into small clay pieces; it turned its body and went after its mistress. The wind flowed past Sakura's body, and howled in her ears, she blinked and saw her summoned come after her. She smiled a deadly smile and turned her body to face the ground. Sakura blinked once more, her once stunning emerald green eyes now were a deep blood red color. Beneath her, her dragon opened its wings and let itself be brought to her by the wind.

"Arigatōgozaimasu Kasumi-hime." Sakura whispered into the dragon's ear. Kasumi let out a deep growl resembling laughter.

"Tch, Shimata," The person in a black and red cloak cursed as he fell from the sky, he dug his hands into his clay bags and let his mouths eat up the clay. The mouths spit out two spiders each, he pulled his hands out and let them fall to the ground. Sakura looked up and saw 4 white objects moving closer to her.

"Tch, so troublesome." She said as she looked towards the ground for some sort of escape. The objects were moving closer and closer every second she took time for her escape. She looked up again and cursed.

"Right where I want you. Hah, KATSU!" He yelled, the figurines blew up and a cloud of smoke obscured his vision. Sakura free-fell as she got separated from Kasumi in the explosion. Sakura coughed as she came out of the cloud of smoke, she looked up and waited for any movement in the dark sky. And there it was, a figure in black and red in the corner of her eye fell to the ground, its movements smooth and graceful as it started walking towards her. The corner of her lips tilted upwards as she flashed a deadly smile at the figure, and then started towards the area Kasumi landed. Right when she was about to reach Kasumi, she felt her body freeze in place.

"You're not going anywhere," the voice echoed all around her as she struggled to pinpoint where he was. She concentrated for a moment, her blood red eyes flashing from red to green, and then settling on a dark shimmering blood red color, she smiled and opened her mouth.

"Kasumi-Hime!" Sakura yelled into the night air, a loud roar was heard in front of them and the ground shook with every step Kasumi took. Kasumi crashed through the trees and landed in front of Sakura,

_'You Dare, try to Harm My Mistress?'_ Kasumi growled as she stood proudly with her head held high, tail swishing back and forth, and smoke and flames billowing out of her nostrils and mouth. She raised her head high to the sky and let out a roar that could be heard for miles on end.

With Konoha

In the Hokage's office Rookie 9 stood there, it's been 3 years since Sakura's disappearance. Naruto stood at the front of them all yelling at Tsunade about Sakura.

"Well let's go get her then! It's been 3 years Hokage-sama! We can't just let her roam wild! What if she's crying out there! What if she's with the Akatsuki! What if she's alone out there?" Naruto yelled, his palms slammed down on the desk. Then he stood up and put his hands in his pockets and turned away,

"What if she's out there waiting for us?" Naruto asked quietly, not a sound was made after Naruto proclaimed that statement. A faint roar was heard in the distance, everyone turned their heads towards it. It was quiet for a moment,

"If you aren't going to do anything about it, I will." Naruto said finally, he started walking out of the room when Tsunade's voice stopped him.

"Come back Naruto," Her voice was the voice of the Hokage, not the Tsunade they usually knew as.

"I will assign you all a mission," She folded her hands together and looked at every single one of them in the eye.

"You will all go out and find Sakura, and bring her back. If you encounter her do not engage in battle unless you have to. Avoid any serious wounds on any of you. All we need is someone dying on the way back, and the only medic strong enough to heal any wound is Sakura," she muttered the last part before standing up and turning her back to them.

"You are to head out tonight, head towards the direction the roar came from, it's most likely that that was Sakura's dragon. Don't ask any questions about Sakura's kekkai genkai." Tsunade said with a firm tone to her voice.

"You're all one group but will split up into 3 different divisions. Team Kakashi with Sasuke and Naruto and Sai will be the ones trying to persuade Sakura into coming back, if this fails, and she engages in combat I want Neji to try and get close to her to block her chakra points, who knows what she could do. But if you can't see any openings don't try anything. Shikamaru, I want you to come up with all the plans and outcomes that could possibly happen during this battle; don't hold anything back. Ino I want you to fall back if there is combat, you are the only medic along with Hinata. Hinata, I want you to defend people with your 8 trigrams defense as much as you can, but only if it's something they themselves cannot block. Kiba, Tenten, Chouji, and Rock Lee, I want you to back up Sasuke, Naruto and Sai as much as you can and try to defend each other's backs if she has backup. Try to distract her so either one of you can at least get a hit on her." She bit her nail and chewed on it as she thought.

"There's also her dragon that will be a problem, Shikamaru, you will need to come up with a plan if that dragon is still there with her or if it's not. Also consider that she may summon it during the battle if she has to. Also Naruto, Sakura would never join the Akatsuki, It's most likely they have found out the moment she left Konoha, but they wouldn't have made their move yet, we would have heard, also if they are with her, or trying to have her join them, I want you to bring back any Akatsuki members if you can. Alright," Tsunade turned to face them again.

"You will head out at today at 22:00; I want you all packed and ready at the gates by the time I get there! NONE OF YOU BETTER BE LATE! That means you Kakashi!" She said as her eyes pierced his, he shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Dismissed!" A chorus of hai's came from them before they all went to pack for their journey. Tsunade sighed and fell back into the chair,

"Come back Sakura," she whispered, then she slammed her hands on the desk.

"Shizune! Get me a bottle of Sake!"

With Sakura

Kasumi swiped one clawed foot at the chakra strings, they broke like spider webs beneath her claws. She stepped forward and lowered her face towards the figure, smoke escaped her mouth.

"_Who are you?_" She said as her blood red eyes looked at him, she raised her head and looked at the other figure watching them silently, his piercing red eyes looked at them from the darkness. She looked all around her and saw that she and Sakura were surrounded.

'_Hrmm… Sakura, we are surrounded by the members of Akatsuki, It seems they want you to join them, or they have just come for your power… What do you want to do about this problem?_' her voice echoing in Sakura's mind.

'Try to escape; I'm sure Konoha is still after us as well, we don't need everyone else after us too. I want you to fly up into the sky, give the signal, they'll know it's me.' Sakura placed a hand on Kasumi's side and patted her lightly

'I'll hold them off for as long as I can. Now go!' Kasumi opened her magnificent wings and took off into the sky.

"Now now, it's not nice, there are 7 of you against me. How about we make this an even fight shall we?" she smiled and made 6 more clones of herself.

"There we go. Now, why would you be after someone like me? I'm just an innocent little girl." She said as she pouted. In the inside of her, her mind was running, a million things were going through her mind. A deep chuckle to her side broke her thoughts.

"Looks like Pinky wants to play a game, ne Itachi? You're good at those." Kisame said as he looked at his partner in the darkness. His partner said nothing as he stared blankly at the scene. Sakura looked up towards the sky and saw the fire in the sky. She looked back at the Akatsuki members and smiled.

'Man they sure did pick a bad day to come after us huh?' Inner Sakura said, Sakura rolled her eyes and watched the sky as 6 more symbols shot up into the sky and burst into flames.

'Thank you Kasumi-hime, I will call for you another time, but for now, I release you.' Sakura said as she felt Kasumi's presence disappear.

"Hrmm, alright let's do this." Sakura said as she her clones went into combat with each member, leaving Itachi to go against her. She stepped up to him and examined him from top to bottom.

"Mmm, the infamous Uchiha Itachi," She drawled, she stepped forward, and right before she took another one she appeared right before him.

"I know your secrets." She took a step back and flashed him a quick smile before she jumped backwards into the middle and dismissed her clones. As the clones disappeared the clouds from their dismissal clouded everyone's vision. When the clouds were gone, they could see 5 figures surrounding Sakura all kneeling with their heads bowed murmuring a Sakura-sama. Every one of them was dressed in very different styles, but almost every single one of them was dressed in a deep blood red color, except for one.

"Aw, don't be so formal you guys, we have guests." She said as they all stood up to face the Akatsuki members.

Kisame, Itachi, Sasori, Deidara, Hidan, Kakazu, and Tobi all had their guards up immediately; they didn't even feel their chakara. Hidan looked alarmed at the sight of them.

"Who are YOU? Are you their leader or something? I mean, they look pretty powerful, and their leader is supposed to be powerful as hell. But you're just a little girl, what could you possible do to us? We are the Akatsuki, we are the shit." Hidan exclaimed as he pointed at her, and then to the Akatsuki members. All the members that surrounded Sakura went stiff at that statement. They looked warily at each other before making a pathway for their leader. Sakura walked towards Hidan as he watched the way she moved.

"You don't know who I am do you? You don't know who we are?" Her voice was soft and quiet, but her eyes betrayed what she felt, they were burning, yearning for blood to be spilt for not knowing who they were.

"We, are your worst nightmare." She said before taking a fist and slamming it into his stomach. He was sent flying backwards for a couple hundred feet before he stopped. He stood up shakily, a trickle of blood flowed out past his mouth. He took his hand and wiped it across his mouth.

"Kuso, you little bitch!" He yelled.

With Konoha

Rookie Nine stood in front of the gates the full moon overhead.

"Alright, all of you better come back alive! Naruto! Don't do anything stupid." Tsunade said her eyes narrowed at him as she said the last part. With that Rookie Nine walked out of the gates and went after Sakura.

30 Minutes later.

Rookie Nine leaped from tree to tree before they heard a loud explosion to their left. Team Kakashi motioned them to stop and looked at the other team leaders, they all nodded their heads, and they took off towards the noise.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan; I'm coming for you, Just wait. Just wait a little bit longer." Naruto whispered as his eyes burned brightly in the darkness of the night. They stopped just a little bit away from the fallen Akatsuki member and watched silently as the battle progressed on.

With Sakura

Her eyes flashed before she looked towards the treetops and cursed.

"Come out Konoha, I know you're there." She said, her eyes sweeping over the treetops and the Akatsuki. The Konoha ninja's stepped out from their hiding places and looked around warily.

"Well if it isn't my old friends and teammates. Isn't this nice, a reunion. Do you know who we are?" She directed this to the Konoha Nin's. They shook their heads slowly before getting into a fighting position.

"Haruno Sakura, and Akatsuki, we are hereby ordered from Konoha to detain you and bring you back to Konoha to decide your actions." Kakashi said as he stepped forward. Rookie Nine stepped forward as well. Sakura let out a laugh before looking at Kakashi with malice in her eyes.

"That won't be happening anytime soon. I won't be going anywhere, not with you," she directed this to Konoha, with that she backed up and her group members surrounded her once more.

"Yuuki," a figure stood up as she pulled out two small daggers and held them in front of her, she had on a blood red halter top, with black shorts and a red skirt on top with rips and tears in it. A piece of cloth covered her mouth and nose which left her cold icy blue eyes exposed, her blond hair was held up into a tight bun with two long strands of hair framing her face.

"Zero," he stood up, he had bright green hair with red eyes, a smile in place and pulled out his Katana and got into fighting position. He had on long baggy pants that ended at his ankles and a red muscle-tee with rips and holes in it. Around his neck he had on a black long scarf that seemed to move on its own.

"Hiro," He stood up, He had arm bands all the way up to his elbows. He had one leg pant cut short while the other hung low. His t-shirt was cut up to his midriff and was missing one sleeve. He pulled out a long bow with a quiver of arrows in them. He had on a mask that looked like a monster, blood dripped out of the eye sockets and fangs protruded from its mouth. Beneath the mask he had short brown hair that was tousled around and deep blue eyes that could make any girl melt.

"Take care of the Konoha nin," the three stepped out of the circle and placed themselves between Sakura and the Konoha Nin's.

"Riku," She stood up and pulled out a long staff, it was made out of pure diamond and had twisted platinum wrapped around its shaft; she had long bright red hair that flowed down to the small of her back with deep purple eyes. A black and silver wolf-like mask was tilted to the side of her head, and two wolves stood beside her. The one to her left was silver and had white streaks through its fur, and had a gold lightning symbol in the middle of its forehead and had black eyes. The right one was black with silver streaks through it. On its forehead had a silver crescent moon with a flame burning within the moon, and had red eyes. She stabbed her staff into the ground and placed both hands on both of the wolves' heads and petted them, and gave the Akatsuki a chilling smile.

"Fuyu," he stood up, his long silver blue hair was tied at the nape with a blood red ribbon that clashed with his hair. His eyes glowed white and he placed his hands towards the ground. His lips moved but no words came out, the earth shook and 3 beams of moonlight were placed on the earth. The first was surrounded by snow and ice, a cold wind surrounded it as the snow came together to form a large being. It was made of all ice and from thin air pulled out a large flaming sword and a black rocky shield and got into fighting position. The ice reflected all that shined upon it. Its body was covered in a thick layer of armor made of metal. The next was surrounded by leaves, earth and a warm wind. As the wind swirled around faster and faster like a tornado, on the inside a figure was formed made of earth and leaves. It had the figure of a lady, long green hair and tan skin, her eyes a stunning blood red. She had on a green top that ended at her breasts and lacey gold intricate designs that moved across her body. A green and gold skirt like cloth was tied at her waist, its flowing movements moving with the wind. From the earth came a long twisted wooden staff with a glowing sphere at the top of it. She let out a chilling laugh that sent shivers up everyone's spine and pointed her staff towards the Akatsuki. The last beam was made of light, darkness and blood. The blood came together at one point and formed a person. The darkness came together to form black bloody wings, and placed itself on the figures back. Intricate designs decorated the person's form; it twisted and turned around its torso and arms. He stood up and reached out to the light, it formed a sterling silver bow with a quiver of golden arrows, while the darkness seeped down from the wings and formed a black diamond sword that emitted a dark evil aura. Then Sakura kneeled down and turned her backs to the Konoha Nin's. Then she turned around again and placed a hand behind her.

"It's okay Sora," she said quietly; He came from behind Sakura, a thumb in his mouth and the other hand on Sakura's leg. His short red hair moved with every step he took. He looked like a mini version of Sakura. He placed his hands on the ground and started chanting, the ground started shaking beneath everyone's feet. He pulled on the ground and moved his hands upward, the ground split in two. From the crack came 3 large fiery wolves. Fire surrounded their whole bodies as they took a step forward, growling menacingly at everyone. He hid behind Sakura once more and swept his eyes across the clearing; everyone took a step back at the resemblance he held to Sakura. Shining emerald green eyes burned with a fiery fury that represented Sakura's determination.

"Take the Akatsuki." She said in a commanding voice. The rest placed themselves between Sakura and the Akatsuki. Each member bared a symbol that look alarmingly close to the Akatsuki's black and red cloud cloaks.

"Sora, stay close by me." She said to him in a quiet voice. Not one person moved, no one even dared to breathe, the wind danced across the clearing as the wind rustled in the grass. A long strip of shadow could be seen moving towards Sakura behind her back. Silently it slithered right up to her feet, and right when it was about to get her, she jumped up into the air with Sora and landed on the other side of the clearing. By then all of the Akatsuki had moved to one side, Konoha on the other and Sakura and her group to the other.

"Tch, shimata." A voice said in the darkness. Sakura laughed and looked at the figure.

"I won't fall for that trick Shikamaru." He stepped out of the darkness and met her gaze. She laughed and looked at everyone.

"You will all fear us when the time comes, you will know our name when the time comes, don't you guys recognize this symbol?" Sakura said in a low voice, she looked towards the Akatsuki as she said this.

"KUSO! Are You serious! This little bitch here! ARGHH! Come on, she's a fucking bitch. What Do you mean she has her own Division!" Hidan exclaimed, his voice carried throughout the field. Itachi caught Sakura's eye and gave her a nod. Then he looked towards the other Akatsuki and moved to stand behind Sakura.

"Riku, Fuyu, The Akatsuki is not our enemy here. Stand down." Riku gave a small pout and took a step back as Fuyu waved his hand to dismiss his summons.


	2. Chapter 2

"You will all fear us when the time comes, you will know our name when the time comes, and that time is now, we are, Akatsuki," her voice echoed out into everyone's ears.

Naruto's heart dropped at the name, his form slouched, and Sakura's heart clenched in pain. He stood there, tears freely flowing, not bothering to wipe them away. Kakashi placed a hand on his students back and his eye softened.

"Why?" Naruto's voice came out softly, Sakura sighed and placed a mask on her face. A long pause draped over them as the wind howled in their ears.

"Because they accept me for who I am." her voice no more than a whisper, yet still carried to their ears. Naruto looked up and shattered Sakura's mask with his next words.

"Haven't We ?" Naruto's voice, although quiet, was loud in the deafening silence. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut as tears made their way down her face.

"Nothing would have changed! We would still accept you no matter what!" his voice broke and he fell to his knees, burying his face in his hands as his tears fell.

"I know Naruto," he looked up and his eyes widened in shock, and for a split moment, he could see past Sakura's mask, and he saw Sakura, the old Sakura, her eyes a molten emerald green, her face tear stained as she let out a strained smile.

"I know." she whispered to herself. Her group shifted uneasily as they knew how she yearned to run back into her old teammates arms.

Naruto's face broke out into a grin, and he stood up and brushed himself off.

"Ne, Sakura-chan, . . . . You look beautiful." Sakura let a small smile spill across her lips at the looks of Rookie 9's faces; jaws dropped and eyes wide.

"Awww, how cute, now if ya' don't mind, Pinky here, is comin' with us." Kisame declared as he shifted Samehada on his shoulder. Naruto smiled and whispered into Kakashi's ear. He nodded and stepped back.

"S'okay." Naruto said, the Rookie 9 broke out into an uproar, a voice from his earpiece spoke to him,

"What are you doing Naruto ?" Naruto smiled and ignored the voice in his head.

"As long as you're happy, I'm happy, Okay Sakura-chan." Naruto broke out into a full out grin as he gave her a thumbs up.

"What do you think you're doing? Have you forgotten why we came here ?" the voice hissed, Naruto turned his back to Sakura for a moment, then turned to face her once more.

" Ne, Sakura-chan, I think there's someone you'd like to meet." Naruto's face got serious, and the wind blew harshly causing Sakura's pink locks to cover her eyes. As the wind died down and her pink strands began to fall in place once more, her breath hitched her eyes watering as she saw someone she thought she'd never see again.

"Masaka . . . . . " And there he stood, in all his glory, black orbs penetrating her eyes and he stood with one hand placed on his waist as his dark locks framed his pale face. That cold emotionless face burned into her mind resurfaced from the past and hit her; she let out a slow breath and calmed herself. She nodded her head to him, and surprisingly he returned it.

"Tch, still being annoying even after all these years." He said quietly, she smiled and reminisced in those words,

"Still as arragont as ever, ne, Sasuke." The eyes pierced hers and she gazed back. His eyes shifted to the form beside her. Those obsidian eyes accusing her, bore into her eyes, bore into her skull and into her mind. Her fists clenched at her sides and she looked down.

"Don't, Don't look at me with those Eyes." Sakura said quietly, he kept his gaze yet it softened, but not much. Her head suddenly jerked up and she took a step forward, one hand over her heart while the other outstretched to block Sora from view.

"You know nothing! So don't look at me like that." Her sudden outburst made him narrow his eyes and shift to Itachi.

"Sakura, stay away from him," Sasuke's voice was a surprise and she glared at him, she relaxed her figure but shifted into a unnoticable form, her muscles tensed, ready to strike out if needed to. She blinked once and inhaled the fresh air,

"Don't tell me what to do, Sasuke. I am free, with no one to hold me back," her voice was soft, she raised a hand and looked through her fingers; her eyes trailed to her group.

"Yuuki, Zero, Hiro," she was answered by a 'Hai,'

"Dismissed." Her soft voice carried to their ears, and with that, they disappeared in a cloud of smoke. She looked over the Konoha Nin's and turned her back to them. Sora grabbed her hand and looked up at her with those beautiful eyes of his. She smiled and bent down to give him a kiss on the forehead. She straightened and looked over her shoulder, all those she had once loved, they couldn't believe that she was actually going with them, that they were actually looking at her back. She saw Naruto, his eyes were sad, yet he smiled despite all that had transpired.

"One day, You will all know, this was for your own good." Sakura said quietly, and she motioned for Riku and Fuyu to follow; The Akatsuki took off quietly, not making a sound as they left. Kakuzu dragged Hidan along as he protested loudly about Jashin wanting a sacrafice. Itachi took the lead, his quiet footsteps left the branch no sooner than it hit them. Sora kept up, his eyes always searching for enemies in the dark, yet he held a relaxed form, but one with a trained eye would know better. The Akatsuki flanked them, and Hidan struck up a conversation with Riku, ~ or at least tried to.

"Hey," Hidan tried to get her attention, she merely glanced at him, and quickened her pace, Yet he quickly caught up once more. She clenched her fist in annoyance and mentally counted to 10 and back. Hidan clenched his teeth as he realized that she wasn't gonna answer him if needed to. Then he smiled and tackled her to the ground, Riku surprised at his choice of move was caught off guard and sliced a kunai at his neck, he dodged and smiled, his eyes held an evil glint. Not knowing what would happen Riku summoned her staff and pointed it at Hidan, not long after he pulled out his scythe and touched blades with hers.

"You wanna know what happens when I get a taste of your blood?" he said quietly, his eyes held a crazed look, and with that he attacked, swung his blade to cut her torso. She backflipped and skidded to a stop, she let out a 'tch' and looked up to Sakura for permission. Sakura gave the thought a moment, and then nodded her head once, Itachi caught this and narrowed his eyes at Hidan. Riku smiled and shook her head, and then procceded to prod her staff at him in little movements, he dodged and then grabbed her staff. He let go abrubtly and looked at his hand, it was stained red and smoke rose up from it. He looked at the staff and saw electricity crawl up and down it's shaft. She smiled again and swung it across where his head would be, he ducked and carried his blade across the ground and she jumped, his blade missing her by mere inches. She changed direction and dug her staff into the ground, one foot on the staff while she closed her eyes.

"Raika Hōrai no Jutsu." the ground glowed once around Hidan, and then cracked with the force of lightning, it pierced Hidan's skin and left black marks on him. He clenched his teeth and fell to one knee.

"Kuso ~ . ." He ground out as he struggled against the lightning. Riku inhaled and felt a burning sensation build up in her chest, and when she felt it was ready she exhaled and let the fire burn as long as needed to. When she ran out, she grabbed her staff and flipped up into the air and landed on the branch across from Sakura.

"It is done Sakura-sama." Then Riku's eyes widened and she placed her staff parallel of her to avoid getting cut by the elongated blades. Hidan pressed harder, one sleeve ripped off, and revealed one half of his upper body. He shifted his blade to one hand, and then pulled out a black sharp staff with the other and aimed it at Riku. She frowned at the complication she was in, she could move forward and risk getting cut by one of the blades, or get hit by the other blade. Yet she was surprised again when he suddenly threw off her staff and kicked her across the forest and into a tree. She unsteadily stood on her feet and coughed as a hand closed around her throat and shoved her into the tree. Hidan smiled and shifted closer;

"You know, you're really irritating, but, I kinda like you," He took a step closer and burrowed his face into her neck and inhaled deeply.

"Mmm , and you smell good too," too busy in his craze, Riku landed a firm kick in his gut, and she immediately disappeared, and reappeared next to her staff, she took hold of it and was about to attack,

"Enough," two voices mixed together said at the same time, Itachi looked at Sakura in the corner of his eye, she made no move to acknowledge their moment, Hidan went off cursing; Riku stepped up and landed at Fuyu's side.

"Hurry, we must not waste time." Sakura said once Riku was recovered, she looked past her and saw that Hidan was looking at her subordinate with determination in his eyes. She sighed once and looked at Itachi, then jumped off into the trees.

"Ka-san, where are we going ?" Sora asked, his eyes trailed back to Itachi, and looked away immediately to avoid getting caught looking at the sharingan user.

".." Sakura gave him a reassuring smile and told him not to worry about it.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile With Konoha<p>

"WHAT ? DO YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT SAKURA WILLINGLY WENT WITH THE AKATSUKI!" Tsunade exclaimed, her palms flat on her desk and a crack down the middle. She sat back down and bent her head, her eyes filled with pain. She knew it had to happen one day, but she didn't think that it'd be today. Not when one thing had actually gone right since she had left, Tsunade looked up again. Naruto had a sad look on his face, yet his eyes held a happiness, maybe, it wasn't a bad idea to let her go. She sighed and looked at Kakashi,

"I expect a full report on this mission, and NO details excluded, Dismissed." Everyone from the retrieval squad filled out silently. Tsunade let a lone tear slip from her eye, It hurt to play the part, but it had to be done.

* * *

><p>Naruto clambered out of the Hokage's office and slipped off into the night, he roamed the streets in hopes of finding a peaceful place to think. Finally, he came to a meadow, he smiled as he remembered that this is where he would always find Sakura, staring up at the clouds as they passed by. He lay down and looked into the night sky, trying to count how many stars there were in the sky, it wasn't long until he heard quiet footsteps approaching him, the familiar chakra sat down. Naruto sighed and looked at Sasuke,<p>

"What do you want?"

"Who's that kid?" Sasuke immediately answered, Naruto was caught off guard by the question, it wasn't one that Sasuke would seem to ask, nonetheless, he answered after some hesitation.

"Honestly, I have no clue. I wish I knew. . ." Naruto trailed off, and Sasuke left it at that, the two of them stayed there and watched as the night sky turned into morning. Naruto opened his eyes and rubbed them, the bright sunlight blinded him momentarily as he sat up to look at his surrondings. He looked to his left and saw that Sasuke was gone.

'Grrrr, that teme left me here! The least he could have done was wake me up.' With that final thought, Naruto stomped off to find Sasuke to give him a piece of his mind.

Sasuke was off training, 2 clones of him stood across from him, his form relaxed waiting for one of them to make a move. The first clone shifted forward and was about to attack,

"TEME! How could you leave me out there! Don't you know it was cold! and Dark! And I could've died!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs as he sprinted towards Sasuke, an evil look on his face, yet Sasuke was left unfazed.

"Yet you didn't die Dobe." Sasuke replied and looked back at his clone. His clone was watching the display Naruto was putting on and was caught off guard as he barely dodged a chidori. Sasuke sighed and then dismissed his clone.

"Naruto," Naruto stopped in his tracks and looked at Sasuke in confusion.

"Eh ?"

"Fight me," Naruto smiled and wound one shoulder and then the other,

"With Pleasure," The two got into fighting stance and Naruto took out a kunai while Sasuke unsheathed his katana, the wind blew around them for a moment, a leaf carried in the wind. The leaf, slowly descended to the ground, and as it touched it, the two came together, metal against metal.

* * *

><p>Up ahead, Sakura could see a large, but very well disguised base. It's looming form would strike fear into anyone who had not known what it was. Sakura didn't know where they were, but she knew it was clsse to Ame. Her eyes lingered on the passing trees as they closed in on the base.<p>

"Come," Itachi said not bothering to look back at her and proceeded into the base. Sora grabbed onto her hand tightly and clung close to her side. She patted his head to reassure him and trailed after Itachi. Yet when she walked in, he was no where to be seen,

"Oh Kami, I just had to lose track of him." she cursed and let out a sigh.

'I guess I better just start looking for him then' She tugged Sora along and looked at the many hallways occupying most of the interior; she decided on the left one and took a step towards it. A woman, about 5'4" came from the right, dark midnight black hair fell to the small of her back, ocean gray eyes looked at her with a cool gaze. Lips painted red, she was dressed in a black haori. Not very Ninja-like if she was in the Akatsuki.

"And you are?" Her voice was strong and demanded attention, yet Sakura was not fazed. She matched the woman's cool gaze with one of her own,

"Shouldn't you tell me yours before asking mine." Sakura stated more than asked, the woman's eyes narrowed for a moment and annoyance flashed in her eyes, but it was gone as soon as it was there. She smiled and then pulled a black fan out. With a flick of her wrist it opened and she covered the bottom half of her face.

"Why of course, forgive my manners, I am Takahashi Kimiko. Pleasure to meet you." Kimiko lowered her fan and flashed Sakura a smile.

"Haruno Sakura, Pleasure. If you don't mind, I must get going." Sakura said her eyes met with Kimiko's. Sakura didn't like the feeling of this woman, she didn't want that woman any where near her or Sora.

Kimiko scowled at the pink haired woman called Sakura, she did not like her, she was already taking her place in Akatsuki she had worked so hard for. Kimiko knew she wasn't much of the ninja type, yet she had many connections that help the Akatsuki, and so she was allowed to stay.

Sakura trailed around the base for a little while before she finally came to the entrance, she cursed and ran a hand through her hair,

"Come on, Baby, let's try and find Itachi-san again, ne?"

"Oi Pinky' ain't you suppose' to be following Itachi? You don't know where he went do you ?" Kisame asked from behind, his large form lingered in the entrance way. Sakura shrugged and noticed that she couldn't feel anyone's chakra except for Sora's. Her eyes narrowed at this, yet made a mental note to ask about this later, for now she had to go meet Leader. Kisame led the way and the two followed after him. They made many twists and turns, and went down a long hallway. Various doors were on either side, each had their own distinctive character and color to it. At the end of the hallway, a black door stood in front of her. God, was painted on in gold characters on it,

"Go On, Leader-sama's not one to be kept waiting." Kisame flashed her a toothy grin and knocked on the door twice, It opened on the second knock. Immediately her eyes landed on the elder Uchiha; She looked towards the front and saw a woman with blue hair with a origami flower laced in it. She stood on the right side of the leader's desk. And finally, the leader. He was covered in shadows unlike the woman, Yet the distince outline of him gave Sakura the impression that he was very agile and quick. Sakura stepped into the room, her eyes kept firmly on the shadowy figure, her mind trying to process the possibilities of his abilities, his strengths, weaknesses, etc. Sakura stopped about 10 feet away from him, she gave Sora's hand a reassuring squeeze as she felt his chakra spike in nervousness. She knew that if he didn't calm down soon things wouldn't be any prettier than they were now. The shadowy figure made a move into the light; A man with orange hair spiked into different directions, 6 piercings on the bridge of his nose, 7 piercings on each of his ears all along the outside and one long one vertical to the ear, 2 spiked piercins on the the bottom of his lip. And last, the Rinnegan, his piercing eyes, Sakura inwardly shivered as he assessed her and then Sora. He looked to his left and gave a nod at the woman next to him.

"This is Konan. The people know her as God's Angel, beyond these walls you are to never say her true name. Also, be watchful of your actions, She will always be watching. I am the Leader of Akatsuki, you may address me as Leader-sama, and none else." Konan stepped forward and gave Sakura a small smile, Inner Sakura soared, at least she had the chance of having someone to talk to when she needed to. Sakura nodded in her direction then trailed her eyes back to the man in the middle.

"You will be joining Deidara and Sasori's group. You have a mission in two days, debriefing will be here tomorrow. When you get back you'll be trained by everyone, your skills pushed to the limit until you drop from exhaustion. Itachi, show her to her room. Dismissed." Sakura nodded and followed Itachi out into the hallway. She kept track of all the doors.

'Sasori, Deidara, Hidan, Kakazu, Tobi, Zetsu, Kisame, Itachi, . . ' her gut clenched, her heart knowing that her room lay right next to his. Itachi stopped and waited for Sakura to enter. She looked at the door, a light shade of pink, probably to symbolize her hair. She grimaced at the thought and traced the golden letters that were carved into the door.

"Sora will be staying with me-"

"Of course." Itachi said smoothly, then walked off. Sakura scowled and stepped into her new room, she placed Sora on the bed, then allowed herself to fall face first onto the bed. Sora held a strand of her hair, his eyes dancing with mirth at the amusement the strand held. Sakura smiled and turned to face Sora,

"Come on Baby, let's get some sleep." he climbed up to the pillows and waited for Sakura; she placed the comforter over them and placed a kiss on Sora's head. Her mind was reeling through all the things what had transpired, and what would transpire tomorrow. Her lids fell sleep tugging at her mind, and before she knew it, she fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

><p>Ohh gosh, I am sooooooo super duperrr sorrryy! But I hope this kind of makes up for it. I know where I'm going to go with this story now. :) Also, This will be and ItaSaku pairing. Ack, well, I'll try to update as much as I can. :D<p> 


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